Sept. 21, 2010
Welcome back to Tuesdays With Tanke, and yes, today is actually Tuesday. Recently, I've been catching some slack around campus for not writing every Tuesday. I won't name names Coach Bergren. So this installment is my attempt to please him and the rest of my faithful readers. But, mostly him, so that I can get out of some fitness sessions.
The world refers to soccer as the beautiful game (and who could blame them with guys looking like me playing it). One of the most beautiful times during a match is when a goal is scored; the relief of the manager, the jubilation of the fans, that child-like joy of the goal scorer and his teammates, and the heart break for everybody involved with the team the just conceded. However while all of this is going on, it is easy for one to overlook the most beautiful thing of all, the celebration.
I'm not here to be a goal celebration snob; I certainly can't be, because I haven't scored a meaningful goal since 2006. But before you readers out there think you know what a good goal celebration is, I'd like to share a few thoughts.
First, there's your classic celebrations. The ol' faithful. The go-to moves. For example, off the top of my head there is the head first dive, the airplane, the knee-slide-fist-pump, and the shirt-pulled-over-the-head-run-around like a chicken with your head cut off. Matthew Preyss actually put two of these into a combo celebration in an exhibition match this year vs. UNH. And like I said, it was a classy retro celebration to honor those who have played before him.
There are also your passionate celebrations. Some choose to kiss the badge on their jersey, some run over to their most committed supporters, some take a bow in front of the opposing supporters (that's Kevin Shaw at Binghamton last season), and some run straight for their bench to celebrate with their teammates. Again, I don't see any right or wrong celebrations. It all really comes down to personal preference.
Another celebration type is the creative variety. I don't even know where to start with this one. I've seen a guy act out a Tiger Woods winning put into an imaginary hole at the corner flag, although I think the popularity of this celebration has dropped significantly over the past year. I've seen run to the sideline and kiss their mother, wear a t-shirt with a message underneath their jersey, and I've seen teammates pretend to shine the goal scorer's shoes.
Just the other night, Greg Balicki pulled out his imaginary chainsaw and sawed down an imaginary tree (which was the corner flag). Another classic Balicki celebration came against Charlotte - in the quarterfinals of last year's A-10 Championship - when he completely took down Rhody the Ram!
One of my all time favorites is taking off the jersey, laying it down flat on the field with the player's last name facing up, and then that player proceeding to kneel down and pray to the jersey. You can see, the possibilities are endless. Goal celebrations are truly and art form.
Rarely, we can come across a celebration that is truly unique. I thought I'd seen them all until our match this year vs. Bryant University. No more than ten minutes into the match, Dwayne Williams (aka Dwayne the Pain, aka Hurricane Dwayne) hammered home a powerful header. Instead of opting for any of the above mentioned celebrations, Dwayne just walked over to the sideline holding his face. I thought he was attempting the sympathy celebration as in "look at me, I scored, but I'm faking an injury at the same time". How wrong was I? He actually had a broken face. And for the ultimate goal celebration, Dwayne actually finished the match, 80+ minutes with a broken face! That my friends, will remain the greatest celebration I have ever seen. It's in a category of its own, heroism I'm calling it.
Before I go, I'm leaving you with a special Goal Celebrations Edition of the YouTube video of the day. This is from a team in Iceland... click here to check it out.
God Bless and Go Rhody!
